Chinese phonemakers have started to look beyond configurations in order to release smartphones that outwits competitors. In addition to high-end specifications, they, now focus on design, camera quality, and display type as well as other things which consumers fancy.

One area the domestic mobile phone companies in China seem to focus on is the migration to smartphones with a curved screen, similar to what Samsung did on the Galaxy S7 Edge. Already, the Vivo XPlay 5 has clinched the record as the first Chinese phone to get the curved screen design and reports indicate that Xiaomi, Huawei and Meizu are seriously working on their own curved screen smartphones.

According to analyst Kevin Wang, director of China Research at iSuppli, Huawei, Xiaomi, Meizu, Gionee as well as Oppo have all perfected plans to churn out smartphones using hyperboloid or curved display screen. The analyst in his Weibo post also listed the features of the curved display to include its difference from the flat screens found on most devices, the cost of developing the curved displays which in turn translates into more expensive smartphones.

Chinese phones are known to be very cheap, even when they are at par in terms of specs with their foreign counterparts like Apple and Samsung. With aspirations to compete on the global turf, it is important that their smartphones sell at prices which would enable them compete and even outwit the top smartphone brands.

In the same regard, Meizu’s next flagship device which is rumored to feature its next generation Flyme 6.0 OS, will likely feature a curved screen as well. Huawei is also said to be sourcing curved screens from Korean companies, LG and Samsung. Gionee and Oppo who mostly sells their smartphones via offline sales channels are also working on curved screen displays which comes with better looks and therefore might attract more buyers. But it is yet to be seen how they hope to adopt the obviously more expensive curved display type and yet keep their phones affordable and post good profits.